Queen of Beasts: The Fallen Book One

Trial and Error

The next morning, I'm surprised to hear that most of the guys head out on a Saturday morning and don't come back until late in the evening. Apparently there's a nearby park where not a lot of people go, so they can be free to be exactly who they are and run a complete muck about the place. Despite the invitation, I did decline letting them know that I had a really big day ahead of me. And I also had work to do. It's only nine in the morning when they leave, so I'm walking around the house wondering if there's something that I can do to make up for all the effort they put into making me feel welcome. I don't really see anything. I wonder how often these guys actually do spend cleaning the house. It seems to be immaculate all the time.

"Hey." I scream at the voice behind me. I thought Oliver would have gone with everybody.

"Don't do that!" I yell.

"Seriously, you're too easy." He smirks.

"Sorry, I thought I was alone in the house."

"And you thought you'd just wander up and down the living room and kitchen until something popped up?"

"I just wanted to do something nice like clean something, but everything's clean. I don't really know how I can help out. But I feel like I need to do something."

"Well, it might not be for everyone," He states, ", but I still need assistance being a bit more interactive." Right, I'd almost forgotten.

"Okay, so where did you want to do this?"

"Let's go back upstairs, it's the only place the ghost won't go." I want to assume he's joking, but I don't think anyone would really joke about that in this house.

Once we step into his room, I instinctually take the seat at the study desk. "Let's stand this time." He says catching me off guard. Despite being confused, I stand anyway. "At some point I'm meant to carry you on the stage, which means close body contact." I can already feel my skin turn cold and I haven't even touched him yet. I can only imagine how this must feel for him.

"What did you want me to do?" I ask hoping that he suggests something harmless.

"I'm not sure. I'd suggest for you to just give me a hug, but then that would incline that I could wrap my arms around you and I don't really want to try that just yet." Although I don't like the idea of that much close body contact with a vampire, I tilt my head anyway. "I'm a lot stronger than I look and I rather you have the ability to get away if you need to."

"Yeah, cause saying that makes me feel so much better about this."

"I'm just trying to be honest."

"Alright, I have an idea, turn around." He obliges without any hesitation. I turned my back to him as well and let him know; "We're going to touch backs. Hopefully that's a good place to start. But you can lean back when you're ready."

"Okay." I can hear him taking a few deep breaths before even contemplating his next step. Regardless of whether or not I want to touch him, this is something he needs to do. After a few more breaths, I can feel him getting closer as he leans back and touches my back.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask him just to make sure.

"A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is."

"Seriously? That's so weird." I laugh. "Where do you pick up all this stuff anyway?"

"I spend a lot of time in the house. There's not much to do except surf the Internet."

"Pretty sure that's not what most guys are searching on the Internet when there are alone." I snort.

"I'll be honest, it would be really weird for me to comment on that right now." I can feel my face going a little bit red at the thought. I just had a strange mental image of Oliver touching himself. "What just happened?" He questions me.

"What do you mean?"

"Your heart beats a certain rhythm when you feel fear. It changes to that same rhythm most of the time when you see me. But it just changed, accelerated, skipped I think."

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just thinking about other things."

"I'm feeling okay with us being back-to-back like this."

"D-did you want to try turning around?"

"Do you?"

"I can handle it if you can."

"That almost sounds like a challenge."

"I'm not going to put my neck on the line for challenging you and how long you can last."

"All night, if you're wondering."

"Oh, gross." He ends up laughing out loud, like a lot. I honestly hadn't expected him to say anything like that and didn't expect to respond anything similar.

"Maybe let's not try turning around right now."

"Alright." I'm kind of glad he said it and not me. I can feel the weight of my heart pounding against my rib cage and if I don't do something about it soon, I think I'm gonna pass out. "I have to get ready for work and then I'm going out to a party."

"A party?"

"Yeah, apparently it's like a welcome back to school party. One of the frats are having it."

"Do you know which frat?"

"I'm not sure. They all sound the same, but maybe it was Beta Omega...something."

"Right. Well, take care of yourself. You need to figure out a way home. Most of us can't get you after a certain time."

"I didn't expect anyone to come and get me."

"You don't have a car, and rather than spending your money on a taxi, perhaps just should you save it. Just stay in tonight."

"I'll be fine. Tyson will be there."

"Is Tyson the guy that was dropping you outside last night?"

"Were you snooping?"

"Seth and I just happened to be in the living room when you got home." Does that mean he saw my awkward almost-kiss moment?

"Okay, well I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine." I take a step away and head for the door of his bedroom. It feels weird all of a sudden being detached from him. Why was he so concerned about me? It's not like I need to be babysat. I'm actually really annoyed at him. In what universe do I need somebody else to protect me? I'm literally in a different city because I needed to go to college here and my parents have trusted me to take care of myself. Sure, I left the sorority house the very first day that I got here, but I was perfectly willing to sleep on a park bench if it meant not actually having to go back. I can feel the anger burning through to my feet when I take the steps back to my bedroom. I have to get ready for work, that's just something I have to focus on now and not on how much I want to hurt Oliver.